Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

1. The Committee notes the Government's report. In reply to the specific questions raised in 1987 in a direct request, the Government has provided brief general information that emphasises the factors and obstacles of an external nature, and in particular the debt burden, and the need for international economic co-operation to ensure the effectiveness of employment policies.

2. With reference to the Committee's previous comments on this problem, the Government's report emphasises that in the context of the international economic crisis experienced over the past six years, any measure that is taken and pursued by the State in the field of employment generation policies will be ultimately conditioned by an international environment characterised by massive problems of indebtedness, a contraction of trade and declining economic activity. In this connection, the Government indicates that as a consequences of the adverse external situation, the measures required of governments by international financial bodies in order to obtain the necessary financial resources for their economic development are diametrically opposed to the principles contained in the Convention. The Government's report also points out that in 1986 Venezuela made the initial proposal for a High-Level Meeting on Employment and Structural Adjustment to be held in the ILO, which took place in November 1987 and was chaired by the Ministry of Labour of Venezuela. The documents placed before the High-Level Meeting for examination and the resulting papers have been of great value to the Government since they have added substance to the information that has been collected quantifying the extent of the employment problem at both the national and international levels. The fact of having recognised the problem of external debt and its consequences as a problem over and above any consideration of a narrow economic nature was a step forward that was absolutely necessary and that the Government considers to be vital for industrialised economies to understand that an international economic order cannot permit a region such as Latin America to remain outside world economic progress. In this context, the Government states that Venezuela as a country is fully identified with the principles of regional solidarity and considers that it was for this reason that the era of international co-operation and consultation began to resolve the problems that prevent development and aspirations towards social justice in the terms set out in the Convention.

3. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue supplying information on the relation between employment policies and programmes and structural adjustment policies and programmes and if it would indicate the methods and procedures that have been adopted to ensure that the impact of the latter on employment receive due consideration. Furthermore, more generally, the Committee requests the Government to supply full information in its next report on the application of the Convention, in reply to the matters raised in relation to Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention in a new direct request.